FAQ

As Sailing Today put it in their Gear Test: Going Aloft Alone, “For this tester the ladder with harness and mast hoop gave the greatest sense of control and security. The only down side is the weight size and storage consideration.” They did test the longest ladder we ever made, so the last point is less of an issue for most owners.
So in summary: No swinging in the breeze. No waiting for competent crew to be present to winch you up. No precarious and awkward working position. Easy to hoist, Easy to climb. Easy to work from.

The Sailing Yachts we make ladders for vary enormously in shape and size. We start with the main aim of facilitating being able to work effectively looking down on the masthead, so the top rung is a metre below the top of the ladder, which should put the masthead somewhere between waist and chest height. Our Mast Ladders are made to measure so that, with that as a starting point, the bottom rung is neither too high nor too low, in other words, within easy reach of the boom (not too high), and not in the way if you want to pre-tension your ladder by tying off at the foot of the mast (not too low). All three “tails” at the bottom of the ladder are finished off with sewn eyes to make this easy. The middle (blue) webbing line eye should hang down to just above the boom. The outside tails at the bottom of our mast ladders (red & green) are longer and should hang down beyond the boom.
We achieve this by taking the precise ladder length and calculating the distance required between each rung to the nearest millimetre. We balance spacing with the number of rungs to keep within a “comfortable climbing” range.

We try to keep our current lead time updated on the front page of our website, but unless we're away or absolutely inundated, we can generally have your ladder measured, assembled and in the post within 5 business days, although shipping times can vary.

As our mast ladder is Made To Measure, the cost will vary depending on the length of your mast, the type of ladder, and the type of fittings you require. Please visit our shop to see price ranges, and once you've worked out exactly what you need, just hit "add to cart" to see the final price.

The one thing we love more than making high quality gear is making happy customers. Just get in touch and we'll be happy to hold your hand through as much or as little of the process as you need. Any problems at any step, please don't hesitate to ask.

Our Mast Ladders only span where they can be stabilised by sail slides or equivalent, so they only go as far as the boom. Our Mast ladders are designed to be climbed from the boom. Such is the variety of arrangements around the foot of masts on Yachts that we find it best to consider getting onto the boom as a separate challenge.

On many Yachts getting onto the boom isn’t difficult however sometimes the boom is higher up or there is little to facilitate climbing onto the boom. For these situations we make shorter ladders usually referred to as General Purpose Yacht Ladders that can be deployed in numerous ways depending on the arrangements around your mast and boom. We’re always happy to receive photographs of customers set-ups so we can supply our best solution.

Will It Work with My System?

This is probably the most common question we get asked, and the short answer is yes! It might take us a bit longer if you have a particularly unusual set-up, but for all arrangements, we’ll either have a solution already, make on demand or design when the need arises. We love a challenge so whatever the customisation, we'd love to hear from you.

Can't Find Your Question?

We do try to think of everything, but if there's a question that we haven't covered, or something we've not been clear enough about, please do get in touch. We love speaking to our customers so feel free to give us a call on +441264532035 or contact us using the button below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.